A Pirate's Life
by Destiny's-Chosen
Summary: Monkey D. Ruby was kidnapped by famous pirates in her home, now ten years later she herself is a pirate captian out of a promised she made with her big brother the day was taken.
1. Big News

I looked out the window of the room that Chiomnia had rented above Karakura Town. A Hollow roared nearby, and just as it came into my sight, I saw an orange-haired shinigami slice it in half with a huge sword. Kurosaki Ichigo: I recognized him almost instantly, a human who was given the powers of a shinigami by Kuchiki Rukia. A raven haired girl in a high school uniform motioned for him and the two ran away.

"Whatcha doing?" A familiar voice breathed down my back.

I turned to the girl. She looked to be a pre-teen, maybe 14, but certainly not 15. She had a puffy red skirt and a black ribbony parasol covered her matching red lace corset. My gaze travelled toward her heart-shaped face, framed with her rose pink curled hair. She had a sly smile that made her look like a normal rich kid from the Middle Ages in Europe, and most think that when they see her. I knew that, but things were never what they seemed. Her eyes were the only contrary thing about her; pitch black eyes that acted like black holes, sucking in anything that got too close.

Just looking,"I replied lazily and you the girl smiled like a child; she was worse than my brother some of the time. "I can't find Chio-chan! Have you seen her? No, well yell if you have, Ru-chan! Sayonara!" I waved back to her, but she was already on top of the next victim to her mind-reading ability.

"Misaki never changes, does she?" a new voice stated. I saw a girl with dark purple hair in pigtails come from the direction Misaki bounced off in.

"Ichigo managed to avoid her though, right?" I asked moving away from the window. "It's more like she let me go, 'cause although Misaki is a rank FOUR, she is still in our district," Ichigo said and matched her pace with me. "You didn't mention that she's old enough to be our great-great-great-great-great grandma." I looked over to the black eyed Chosen, not caring if she heard or not. I looked over at Ichigo, who was trying not to laugh.

She had on her regular outfit, a yellow polo shirt with a green vest over it. She had a red mini skirt that had slits in the side, so that she could run faster. The rest of her legs were covered by black ninja boots and fishnet leggings. "Does that make me an old lady too?" A new voice said coyly.

I looked over my shoulder to see the number FIVE of my district walking up to us. "Hey, Naski, I didn't think you would show," I hugged the new-comer. Her pale yellow cat ears twitched, making her short wavy hair wiggle. She glared at Ichigo, but Ichigo ignored her, the two never got along. I didn't get why they hated each other, but Misaki said it was a rivalry between a cat and bird.

Naski wore her signature miko uniform, a white blouse with short sleeves tied off with a red bow, and red mini-shorts that looked two sizes too big on the skinny half-daemon. The white thigh highs that covered her legs were tied off the same way her blouse was with a smaller red bow, and small Japanese sandals covered her feet.

"Relax, I only came here because my world has started moving," Naski sighed, "Just informed Chio, and she wants me to stay for the rest of this stupid meeting." I looked around at the other guests for the meeting that Naski gestured to.

There were many other Chosen idling around the apartment, everyone from my district, the first district. I noticed most of the Second district was now talking to the irritated Naski, and the Third district was busy planning the 'perfect' heist to pull on the Berau, the Creator's Guards stood around the room not really talking to anyone, and the Destroyers sat as close as they could to an exit with an obvious killing intent around them. Their Head Destroyer was absent among the black coated figures, she was probably out on a job, I sighed.

But the ones that surprised me the most was the Jury members, they never show up for a meeting unless there was a Trail. But even then only 10 members (2 from each branch) are needed for the ruling to be enforced. And there they stood underneath the landing that led to a second floor almost the entire jury, except for the Heads, talking nonchalantly to each other.

I have no idea what this meetings about, but it must be big to have all of us here. I noticed Misaki had found Chiomnia, and were talking while eating the takeout pizza someone had ordered. Although I only noticed them because they were standing next to the chocolate fountain in the center of the room, it looked so tasty, I gulped. So with Ichigo in tow I walked up to them.

"There are lot of familiar faces here," I said getting a plate of chocolate marshmallows, chocolate pretzels, chocolate strawberries, and a white chocolate mousse to dip them in. I made sure my Psy held the white bubble in place and turned to my seniors. "It can't be helped," Chiomnia barely nodded in my direction, "The Creator has big news, and it's better to have everyone here it at the same time rather than, repeating the story tons of times."

I just nodded, as we waited for the meeting to officially start, we talked about the going-ons in our worlds. The Kyubie Jinchuriki, Naruto, from Ichigo's world has become an official sinobi that represents Konoha. I've already seen Rukia and Ichigo kill Hollow nearby, I told Chiomnia that they had potential and she nodded. Of course she already knew this is her world after all. In Misaki's world there's a revolution against the Homunculus, started by their human sacrifices. I told them little about my word. It didn't feel right to put my family on display, like the other Regulars.

After some time Naski joined us, and said that her childhood friend just woke up from a deep sleep. I figured that's what she meant when she said her world started moving. It was when I decided to get more sweets, cheese cake with an almond frosting with peanut butter brownies topped with honey syrup, that the Creator showed herself.

Her long brown hair curled down her back, her deep brown eye unblinking started down at the gathered Chosen, a faint smile showed on her lips. Her skin tone was a luminous tan that made the room so much brighter. A pure white cloak covered the rest of her outfit. As expected from one of the Heads of the League, I smirked. She could probably give most of the girls here a run for their money if she was serious. I still remember when I first met the Creator, back then it was before the League. It was when the Creator first started working for the Watchers.

"As most of you have figured, this just isn't any meeting," She said stepping away from her blood sister, another Head to the League, who was frowning deeply. "The Elders have had much debate on this decision, and have made it with regret." I notice Naski's and Ichigo's ears perk up and the word 'Elders', each for their own reasons.

"Due to several reasons, one of which is for your safety, the Elders have decided as the governing officials of the League, and former Chosen's," The Creator stopped, almost as if she was testing the waters, to see if we can handle the truth. I could tell that she already knew we could, every Chosen had to give up something to be here, she knew that better than anyone, "The League from this day forth is hereby disbanded!"

Silence followed her statement, there has been talk of disbandment of the League, I knew this, but I never thought that it would actually be abolished. The Chosen in the room knew what was going to happen next, we have already made a plan what would happen in the worst case scenario. We could not afford to be separated at this time, because everything was just beginning.

I woke up, with the sun in my eyes and the waves in my ears. I sat up and looked over to a snoring girl. Her light pink hair was tied in a tight braid, that reached her shoulders.


	2. Landing on Hikari's Island

I woke up, with the sun in my eyes and the waves in my ears. I sat up and looked over to a snoring girl. Her light pink hair was tied in a tight braid that reached her shoulders. It's useless to try and wake her now, I thought looking out to a nearby island. Deciding to let the girl sleep as I clumsily readied the ship to port; my mind was on the events of the night before.

After the news circulated the room, some of the Chosen left to brood in their own worlds or others. Others stayed in the small apartment to talk it over with others, the Destroyer showed up right as I was leaving. Her long silver hair, full black body cloak, and the ten foot sword she carried everywhere she went made her stand out, from the others in the room (which was only the 1st class and the captains).

When Creator saw her, she made a big fuss about it, but that was mostly for show. Even though the League is gone, us Chosen will still operate the same way, in order to survive. The Classes, Informers, Destroyers, the Jury, and the Guard will keep to their own ranks. As we got closer, I started to inspect the island.

It was an average size island, about a few miles in width, with huge cliffs surrounding it. I could see lush green sprouting out from behind the dark purple rocks. Carved out in the middle of the cliffs was bright town with different types of ships in the port. A pillar of smoke was rising from the center of the town. "It's time to get up, Hikari," I said prodding the girl. "Hm….Ruby, when did you get back?" Hikari yawned. "A little after midnight," I said, "What do you make of that?" I nodded toward the island.

She stood up to get a better view, making the boat swing off course. We definitely need a bigger ship, I sweat dropped. When Hikari got a good sight of island I noticed her flinch, "That bad?" she nodded seating back down. I sighed sitting next to her, "We'll land in a few more minutes, best to be braced for it before then." I didn't have to look to know the she nodded again. It never occurred to me to ask were Hikari's ability came from, it was always just there.

I never asked about her circumstances, when she boarded the Runner, the Mist Pirates old ship. She was on that ship even before me, but she never attempted to run away. In my ten years with her I've come to think of her as a younger sister, although she's older than me. It pained me whenever she goes through a tough time like this, when her ability scared her. Hikari can pick up feelings and emotions from people and objects, and if she knows someone really good she can transfer feelings and emotions to them.

It's basically just empathy, it could have come from a devil fruit or it could be another type of power. Either way it was best if I didn't dig to deep yet, things tend to unveil themselves sooner or later if you continue to move forward. "Is it bad?" I asked looking over to her now clutching one of her swords with a haze in her eyes. The sword that she was clutching was covered in a white cloth and I have never seen Hikari remove it, but she brought it wherever she went." You look worse than normal," I said picking up a bag of one of my favorite food brands 'Hyper Hypno'. They mostly make different type of sweets, and I always carry HH items with me. Inside the bag was full of my favorite Hyper Hypno snack Spiral Stick. This is basically a lollipop that's a cylinder instead of a spear.

"Just some pirate's, have commandeered the town. That's all," Hikari's voice was cold and distant. "Okay, just get prepared to dock soon," I said getting another Spiral Stick. If she didn't want to tell me I wouldn't pry. No matter what I will not pry, I vowed. "It was my home," Hikari said, "before I joined the Mist pirates." I looked over to her; it was the first time she's talked about her past to me. "So you're going to have your family reunion before me. Lucky you," I said as the ship docked into the harbor.

I could sense her smile behind me, "Yeah, I can't wait to show you around, to all of the places I used to hang out as a kid." Hikari jumped off the boat behind me, her Chinese style dress swung in-between her legs. She slid the sword with the white cloth into a cylinder container that held some of her other swords, and slid the strap over her shoulder so it rested on her back. "Do you think we should do anything about the pirates?" I asked grabbing my own pack. "That's for you to decide, isn't it?" Hikari started to skip down the harbor and into the town, I followed her quickly.

"People call this island, The Island of Shokunin (1). This is the only town on the island so they share a name. Although a lot of people live in the cliffs, and forests surrounding it. In order to be a citizen you have to complete a project assigned to you by the government that controls the island. They let anyone take the test, pirate or marine, child or adult." Hikari gestured around to the shops around us," But they live on a small island that only can only be accessed by bridge on the other side of the mountains.

"They call themselves the Kurafuto Gaido (2), and have the power to rival the World Government. But the two governments came to a conscious long ago that keeps island under wraps. Oh, we're here," Hikari walked into a colorful building that had a blinking 'TOY STORE' above the entrance. It figures, I thought, walking into the store behind her. "I remember coming here all of the time as a kid," Hikari said happily looking back at me, smiling.

I decided not to ask more questions about how this island worked, Hikari probably has already forgotten about the conversation we were having before she entered the store. It was a typical thing for her to do, I sighed looking around the shop.

It was three stories high and crammed with different types of toys. It was packed full of vibrant colors, all types of noises, and a strong cheerful energy. It reminded me of the store the main character in Home Alone 2 goes to when he is in New York City, the Creator likes having a weekly movie night. Surprisingly the only thing the shop lacked was the kids goggling over the toys.

Hikari continued gabble on and on about how the place hadn't changed since the last time she was here. Bored listening to her never-ending speech, I decided to go looking for my own obsession. However before I could start to locate the energy of my favorite type of shop, an old man grabbed my attention, "Your friend has been here before. Hasn't she?"

I gave a quick glance at Hikari, who had for once was completely quite and still, like a deer in the headlights of a car moments before it gets hit, I mused , before turning to face the man unfazed by his outburst. Hikari noticed this and turned her attention, to some rare toy, and was off into her own world, while keeping an ear out on what I was saying, I am sure of that.

"You can tell," I asked walking up and studying him. He looked like your typical old man, tall, slight hunch back, plaid shirt and matching sweater vest, what hair he did have puffed out in a gravity definite way, and thick 'Harry Potter' glasses. He stood behind the counter, next to an old cash register that had an old engraving on the back.

"Have you heard the speech she's been giving since you've entered this store?" He asked repositioning his glasses. I tilted my head to the side and thought. 'You know he kind of has a point,' my conscience/ inner/ smarter voice said. But being myself, and hating the tiny voice, I just shrugged. "Our guardians came to this island ounce when we were kids, and she's been wanting to come back ever since." Behind the counter were a bunch of old newspaper clippings.

"You weren't here with her," it wasn't a question, but a statement. "Yeah," I paused and looked down suddenly very interested in the floorboards," It was before they were my guardians." It stumbled out of my mouth as something as a mumbled. The man got the idea quickly, and didn't pry. "What are those about?" I asked nodding at the newspaper, trying to change the subject.

"This," He said pointing to the newspapers himself, "This is just an old story. An old shameful story that the Kurafuto Gaido would rather have forgotten." He trailed off, lost in thought. "So you're going against your government then?" I asked taking a SS out of my bag and sticking it in my mouth. "I guess, you could say that," He laughed. I turned around and grabbed a stuff animal shaped chair, it was panda shaped, and gave him a signal to go on.

"Oh, I'm Ruby by the way," I said maneuvering my backpack so that it sat on my lap. I opened one of the many pockets and pulled some of the leftover brownies from the meeting last night. "Greager." He said coming out of a sweet drop moment, I replayed with a glare the clearly said 'No way in hell, are you getting any of these'. "I guess it was 13 years ago," he started and I could feel the major flashback coming on…..

_Flashback~ Hikari's POV -

-Underlined words is what happens in the presnet-

'Kinzoku Akaji (3) is one the title past down for the Master Sword smith in the Kinzoku family. The Kinzoku's are one of the best sword smiths in Shokunin, but most people didn't know that the family was going extinct. It was almost twenty years ago that the current Akaji's wife was with child.

'The government was thrilled when they learned that the Kinzoku family had twins. One girl and one boy, Hikari and Hikaru, Their mother sadly did not make it, leaving only Akaji and a few of the servants to look after the twins. Hikari never came into the city, apparently she had inherited her mother's sickness. Hikaru made regular trips into the city when he wasn't studying. It was well known that he was next in line to become Akaji.'

"Papa, papa, you really take me into town if I continue to act like a boy," I asked tugging on my father's pant leg. "Yes, Hikaru," He sighed before swatting away my hand. I frowned when he used the name he used my male name. It started out with me acting out 'Hikari' and 'Hikaru' as twins. It was a lot of fun but some time ago father told me, that I could never be 'Hikari' again, only 'Hikaru'.

'When the twins were three years old, Hikari passed away. After she died Hikaru stopped coming into town as often, but whenever he did he was the same cheerful person as always.'

I giddily entered my favorite shop, a toy store near the center of the city. "Hello, Hikaru-kun," the jii-san called out to me, as I enter the shop. "Hi-Hi" I waved at him, "Did my order come in yet?" I grabbed a random stuff animal from the nearest rack, and prepared to smother it. "Tauro-kun is almost finished with it," He said, "Milo-san; this is Hikaru, the heir of the Kinzoku family."

I looked at the two old men, analyzing them. Milo-san, like jii-san, had white puffy hair, but Milo-san had less hair. Milo wore natural colored robes, and sat in a wheel chair that had medical equipment on it. I peered at the man with mild curiosity. He was different than the other people I saw in town. The way he held himself was different. So much older. So much wiser. So much... Searing pain weld up in my head, before it was replaced with images, like watching a movie.

I never got the time to focus on any of the pictures or any of the sounds, they were going by too fast. This wasn't the first time I've seen the strange pictures, but it was the first time that they were so incoherent. "You were right Greager," the old man interrupted my miniature movie, "The Hime-chan really is…," and I was out before he could finish his sentence.

'Milo and myself grew up together before I moved to Shokunin, and he had came to visit me. That was when Hikaru just suddenly fainted, right in front of me. I had my grandson, Tauro, took him up to the rest area, and then we waited for him to wake up. Oh, look at the time Ruby-chan, would you mind if we stopped so I could get something to eat. I'm afraid that I don't have anything to eat on this side of the register.'

I looked up to my sugar-addicted captain, as the story went on I decided to sit next to her, a variety of stuff animals and toys around me. By now she had already figured out the gap in Jii-san's story and reality. The things she knew for sure were that I was only child and never had any siblings, that I was female, that 'Milo-san' was the old captain of the Mist pirates, and that we were currently being watched by several people. Plus knowing her, she had already figured out that I fainted because I used my ability on the Captain.

'If you don't want to wait on me the rest of the story is up there,' Jii-san said moving to the break room. As soon as he said, Ruby was off of the Gaara plushy and onto the counter , mindlessly going through the candy on display as she read through the many articles on the wall. I already knew the story 'Notorious pirates kidnap the Kinzoku heir and swords', and the like. Although it's just a bunch of fabrication made by the Kurafuto Gaido, Ruby would be able to figure out the truth.

So I sunk into the Gaara plushy. "Go Shukaku," I mumbled before falling asleep. 'It's Ryuzaki not Kazekage,' Ruby mumbled looking over at me. *

I walked back to the Kinzoku compound, silently behind my father. My mind going over what Jii-san and Milo-san had told me minutes ago, as well as the offer they had given me. My father looked at me, his gaze without emotions, but the images in my head told me that he was reliving memories of my mother. I never met her myself, she had to leave, but I learned a lot about her through others memories.

Milo-san told me that if I stay here, I'll leave like mother that my ability was going to consume me. Then I asked if mother had the same ability as me, but he told me that she was just a regular human. The way he said it, made it seemed like I was not a regular human, like I was a _monster._ Most of the people father made me meet, thought of me like that. Some treated me like everybody else, if I didn't have my gift I wouldn't know any better. Others didn't even bother to hide their hate for me. My father wasn't apart of either category, when he looked at me he only saw mother's face and grandfather's words, not a human but not a monster either.

I'd rather be a monster, than a memory, I thought thinking back to choice Milo-san gave to me. He said that they would come when the moon was directly over mountain. "Papa? Papa will you show me the gallery tonight?" I tugged on my father's pant leg. "Oh, you hardly ever take an interest in work." He said amused.

"Ta-kun, is already a legal citizen same as me, but he's always working. He even lectured me today saying that I should focus more on my own work instead of going to _his_ store every chance I get." I said jumping up and down, "So next time we come to town I want to have the Kurafuto Gaido grade one of my swords, that way I can brag all I want to baka Ta-kun." My father got the idea, and hushed me by rustling my messy hair. Comparing to me to my mother again before, one of his disciples, one of the one who openly showed their hatred toward me, started whispering something urgent to him, and I was ignored again.

I took this time to skip ahead of the rest of the party, and started to fantasize on what was going to happen tonight. When we got back to the compound I whizzed by everyone else, and waited patiently by the gallery door. Father had the only key to get to the swords, I could get into it by myself, but I choose to wait patiently by the door, for father. He walked up to me silently; his followers were nowhere to be found. I puzzled on this for a minute before dismissing it; father must want to talk to me about something important.

"Himeko-"I heard him mumbled, my mother's name, but I pretended not to hear it. I moved to the wall that had all of the swords that I made. All of them grade A+; it was because whenever I make swords I use my ability. That was something else, the two men explained to me earlier, but I didn't understand it. I grabbed one of the plastic sword containers and started to gently put each of the swords in it so they would all fit.

"Hikari, we need to talk." He said after I put the first sword in the case. I gave a silent nod as I reached for another sword. "Tomorrow, the Kurafuto Gaido are going to send one of their-"he cleared out his thought, as I reached for yet another sword. "More prominent members and his family are coming over." I hesitated as I sat the sword in the case before turning to face him.

"You don't have to worry, Papa," I smiled at him, "I won't mess up." Then I resumed putting swords into the case. I saw my father shake his head and curse from the corner of my eye. "No, Hikari, I mean that you are going to attend the meeting as a female." He sounded annoyed and mad now, but I didn't let it bother me, "Also you won't have to worry about dressing as a boy anymore."

I took another sword but was stopped from putting it in the case because my father had grabbed my wrist with one hand and my waist with the other. The pain was so sharp that I dropped the sword to the ground with a clatter that echoed within the closed room. For the first time since I entered the room I observed my surroundings. The room was more like one never-ending hallway; it started out in a traditional Japanese way, but slowly became more like a rock cave further in.

Above the doubled doors that we entered the room was the first sword ever made by my family, and by the original Kinzoku Akaji, Kanashimi yōso-shin (4). Unlike all of the other older swords, it was the only one in front of hallway/room. In order to become the head of the Kinzoku household you had to reshape that sword, get rid of the rust, and sharpen the blade. It has been said that only a true Kinzoku can use the sword for its true potential.

I tried to get away from the man in fear after searching for I useful sword. But that only led to his grip on my waist and wrist. "What I mean is that you are never going to deal with swords again, you little brat," He sneered into my ear. I felt the familiar pain in the back of my head, start to spread. A soft yellow glow drew my attention to its source, Kanashimi yōso-shin. My father must have seen the light to because he almost admittedly let go. I fell to the floor with a thud, but that hadn't broken the spell cast by the sword.

I was unable to look away from it, as the pain and light spread from their origins until they had engulfed my completely. When I woke up, from the light my father was passed out on the ground beside me, seeing my chance to complete what I had come in here to do in the first place. I finished putting all of the swords that I had made into the case. I was about to leave when the familiar, but strange, sense took over my mind.

It wasn't painful it felt like the memories of the mother that I never knew. Before I knew what I was doing, I took the white scarf thingy my father uses and grabbed the sword. I hurriedly wrapped the cloth around the sword and sat it into the case, before slinging the plastic tube over my shoulder and exiting the room.

1. Craftsman 2. Craft Guide 3. Metal Akaji 4. Sorrow element god

* Talking about who would make the better panda Gaara from Naruto or L Lawleit from Death Note. It's kind of an ongoing argument for me XP~. OPINIONS ON THE MATTER HIGHILY APPERIATIVE!


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